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March 13, 2013

U.N. Investigator: Iran Wages "Systemic and Systematic" Violations to Stifle Dissent 
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A top United Nations investigator is accusing Iran of a "systemic and
systematic" crackdown on human rights. In a report to the U.N. Human
Rights Council, U.N. rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed said Iran has employed
torture and other abuses in order to stifle dissent.

Ahmed Shaheed: "A majority of human rights defenders, including those
that defend the rights of women, religious and ethnic minorities, as
well as those that work to advance protections for the environment,
workers and children, continue to be subjected to harassment, arrest,
interrogation and torture and are frequently charged with vaguely
defined national security crimes, which is seemingly meant to erode the
frontline of human rights defense in the country. My current report also
presents what appears to be unimpeachable forensic evidence that torture
is occurring in Iran on a geographically widespread and systemic basis."

Shadeed says that Iran spared the lives of at least a dozen people after
their plight drew international attention, suggesting the Iranian
government is responsive to global pressure. Iran has dismissed the
report as "a compilation of unfounded allegations ... initiated by the
United States of America and its European allies."

 

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